Short Take: The tagline reads "Who is Salt?" - but does the movie even know?

Director: Phillip Noyce (The Bone Collector)

Screenwriter: Kurt Wimmer (Law Abiding Citizen)

Cast: Angelina Jolie (Wanted, Changeling), Liev Schreiber (Repo Men), Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012, Serenity)

Length: 1h 40m

Synopsis: Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is a CIA operative who was recently rescued from captivity in North Korea. She has a husband, a distinguished career profile, and is looking forward to celebrating her wedding anniversary. Before officially clocking out the night of, however, her superiors ask that she interrogate a man who could possibly be a Russian spy. During the interrogation the man pegs Salt as also being a Russian spy by saying she was his contact in the United States. Not taking chances, the CIA tries to hold Salt but she gets away, leading them on a wild chase that they hope will reveal exactly which side she’s fighting for.

Analysis: Undoubtedly, some critics will choose to describe Salt as a female equivalent of Jason Bourne. With regards to chase scenes and action sequences there are definitely a number of similarities in style, both directorially and in terms of choreography, but these similarities pretty much end there. One very big difference is that the character of Bourne suffered from amnesia, which helped viewers like us connect with him because as we learned about his identity so did he. Salt has no such personal barriers to deal with. In fact, we could easily describe her as being the opposite of Bourne in this way because we only learn a little about her as the story progresses – and that includes her precise motives. Indeed, we don’t get to really know Salt on any kind of intimate level. As twists unfold with regularity we are continually forced to reevaluate our feelings towards her, like whether we should consider her a friend or foe. Each time she seems to show allegiance to one side she changes things up, causing us to feel like we know less and less about her instead of more and more.

This seesawing narrative structure is very appropriate given how much of a main focus the topic of allegiance is. The A-Team dealt with the malleable definition of patriotism, but this film goes several steps further by including aspects of life unrelated to nationality. And, if you wanted to, you could also make a case the movie contests that allegiances do not in fact play a role in defining one’s identity. However, allegiances often deal in oppositions, and such is the case here between the United States and Russia, work and private life, and war and peace. And when one chooses to pledge loyalty to both sides of the same argument, and is forced to confront this infidelity, that person’s true allegiances eventually win out. Salt would have you believe that this is what happens at its conclusion, but based on what we’ve seen how can we be sure this woman is who she ends up appearing to be?

On a completely different note, one interesting thing to do while watching this movie is keep track of the various ways of looking at it from a feminist perspective. On the one hand the character of Salt establishes herself as an autonomous woman who can best any adversary on either side of the fence (all of whom are men) with both her physical prowess and intellect, and due to her often appearing bruised and battered she could possibly (emphasis on possibly) be assuaging the dreaded male gaze. On the other hand, to quote one of feminism’s most popular figures, Simone de Beauvoir, “To emancipate woman is to refuse to confine her to the relations she bears to man,” (The Second Sex). Salt is portrayed very similarly to male leads in action films who must avoid the authorities while fighting for good (as touched upon previously with a superficial comparison to the Bourne series). If Salt was meant to come off as a sort of feminist hero, does such an obvious similarity undercut that intent? To continue referencing de Beauvoir, she continually suggests that women ought to see themselves as autonomous beings – separate from patriarchal society and its rule over female roles and identities. Could Salt, as a clearly autonomous character, not be considered an activist for this viewpoint? These and other related questions can be asked at many intervals throughout the film, and like the flip-flopping of allegiances it appears we can continue debating how it either supports or dishonors feminist thought.

Rating: 6.5